The Saviors of Olympus #3 - The Traitor's Broken Pawn

Featured - Super Burn Bros

Luan breathed in deeply as Kieran tried to apply the lotion to his back.

"Now we're burn buddies!", Kieran applied some lotion to his hand and rubbed it on Luan's back.

The boys were in the Hypnos Cabin's basement. Both couldn't sleep, so they watched some old cartoons the older Hypnos kids had in the lower cabinet of the T.V stand.

It was morning already. Luan focused all he could on not crying. 

He heard the older kids many time talking about Daniel's death, the rumors of how it was last night. Kieran didn't understand, and Luan wanted to keep it that way. 

Kieran's older sister explained to him that Ben had to go away for family business, and Kieran had cried three times already. Luan didn't want Kieran to know about why he really left, or why Daniel has been 'sleeping in'.

Luan liked that about Kieran. Luan had his childhood stripped away from him, but Kieran had an abundance of childishness and innocence. Luan strived to do anything to keep him that way.

"Done", Kieran finished and plopped down on top of a pile of pillows, "Let's do something!".

Luan put his shirt back on and looked at Kieran, "Do what?".

Kieran shrugged, "We can get on a canoe".

"Who's gonna take us?",

Usually, Ben or one of the Gomez siblings would take Luan and Kieran canoeing whenever they felt like it, but none of them were here today. 

Kieran blinked. 

For a second, Luan got scared he would start to cry again, so he suggested something else.

"Let's go to the beach", he got up.

"Okay", Kieran squeaked and ran up the stairs.

Luan sighed before grabbing a bucket hat for Kieran and walked up the stairs.

The Hypnos was really peaceful, compared to the Iris Cabin. 

Luan didn't dislike the Iris Cabin, he just- yeah, he hated it. It wasn't for him. Skittles and tie-dye were the Cabin's main decoration, making it look like a mess of colors that made it hard to see what exactly you were looking at. 

The Hypnos Cabin, on the other hand, was peaceful and quiet. Violin music played faintly, and the camper talked in hushed voices, unlike the rowdy Iris Kids. 

"G'morning, Luan", one of Kieran's brothers sipped a glass of milk, "Kiery ran out saying something 'bout a beach".

Luan sighed, "Yeah, I know".

Luan trudged outside, and found Kieran scurrying to the beach. His little legs moved faster than Luan had ever seen them move. He looked like Mr. Krabs.

Luan followed him, but Kieran stopped. Luan took the opportunity to catch up. 

The Camp was quiet, yet everyone was in some sort of sad trance. The Hecate Cabin's lights were still off, while no one came out of any of the other cabins, although the lights were on. The baby blue glow of dawn tinted the Camp and filled the empty spaces with peace.

By the time Luan reached where Kieran was, he was gone.

Luan's heart almost jumped out of his chest. The Demon's voice rung in his ears once more. He swung around wildly, trying to find his friend. 

He found Kieran, but he was walking into the North Woods.

"Kieran!", Luan yelled, "That's not the-".